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wisdom

Feeling my way through the darkness Guided by a beating heart I can’t tell where the journey will end But I know where it starts

They tell me I’m too young to understand They say I’m caught up in a dream Well life will pass me by if I don’t open up my eyes Well that’s fine by me

So wake me up when it’s all over When I’m wiser and I’m older All this time I was finding myself And I didn’t know I was lost

So wake me up when it’s all over When I’m wiser and I’m older All this time I was finding myself And I didn’t know I was lost

I tried carrying the weight of the world But I only have two hands I hope I get the chance to travel the world And I don’t have any plans I wish that I could stay forever this young Not afraid to close my eyes Life’s a game made for everyoneAnd love is the prize

So wake me up when it’s all over When I’m wiser and I’m older All this time I was finding myself And I didn’t know I was lost

So wake me up when it’s all over When I’m wiser and I’m older All this time I was finding myself And I didn’t know I was lost

I didn’t know I was lost I didn’t know I was lost I didn’t know I was lost I didn’t know I was lost

Knowledge is knowing what to say, without necessarily saying it all the time. People by nature have an almost automatic aversion towards “know-it-all types”, even if they indeed know it all, most of it or mostly. Even if they “know it all” compared to the ones who think of them as “know-it-alls”. It is just how we are as people.

We don’t like to entertain the idea that people whom we perceive as our “equals in everything”, may suddenly not be so equal in something like “knowledge”, but actually higher than us. That’s why we are more susceptible to accepting the same piece of information (with a nod and a smile) shared by a professor, who’s clearly a PhD. holder, than from a colleague of the same age and education who read more books about the topic, including the professor’s own book on the topic, with only a Bachelor’s degree and an insatiable thirst for knowledge!

Sometimes the reason behind this “aversion”, is that the stereotypical “know-it-all” persons, indeed, tend to be smug & condescending towards others who know less, can do less or who are less extrovert with what they know. Know-it-alls often have a total lack of the kind of social skills and empathy needed to pay attention to such a fact or to make such a quick observation of their surroundings, before they address others or share their knowledge.

Other times, the reason has mainly to do with the recipients of knowledge themselves. Such knowledge can be shared by someone who simply happens to know more, but it is often unnecessarily and unconsciously viewed by the counter-part as “threatening” to their own self-image or own standing (in a group). Such people are mostly insecure or less confident than others, but have a habit of channelling such insecurities the wrong way. There are many people who tackle their low confidence problem by welcoming knowledge from more knowledgeable people without the intervention of things such as “ego” or “comparison to themselves”, thereby turning a “vice” to their own hands by making it rather a virtue.

One can also say that if knowledge is factual, applicable and/or useful to the audience or to the discussion at stake, then it should be shared regardless of how it is received and perceived. But hey, there is a reason why people prefer watching certain types of TV programs; some may reject the idea of liking movies, soaps and entertainment shows and others may make jokes of those who watch discovery channel and national geographic as being “boring” or “not so cool”. A difference is there, and plenty of choices are there to make. And it is okay.

Mastering manners of sharing knowledge and knowing how to channel it responsibly and effectively is a sort of wisdom not everybody has. It is mostly related to age but more often to life experience, social skills and character.

It’s a waste of time, for instance, to share your knowledge of the solar system with those who are still “agnostic” as to whether “the earth is flat” or a “rounded globe”. (not such an extreme example, if you realize there may be people on our global earth, who still pick their brains around this fact)

And it’s also a waste of time to explain the importance of choosing the right accounting software for company operations, to a group of accountants who want to start their own accounting company, during a start-ups seminar, only because it’s part of your one-fits-all proven seminar-script as a coach or a speaker, that has always proven successful with previous seminar attendees.

Wisdom is knowing when, what, how and to whom you should say certain things and when not to.

Don’t you hear this too often: “He views the world with rose-tinted glasses”. What is this all about?

Who said that rose should always be the choice? What if I like beige as my metaphoric colour of life, that brings about the same feelings as rose does to the rest of humanity? I don’t always try to view the world with rose-tinted glasses or follow the metaphoric hype blindly, because frankly “rose” is not exactly my favourite colour, when it comes to viewing life as it is.

Life is not rose-tinted, and it does not become rose-tinted either when putting on rose-tinted spectacles. Life is colour-blind, colourful, “colourish”, multicoloured, colour-rich and colourless. Life can be a grey turbulent stormy day or a colourless quiet nap in sunny garden interrupted only by silent merriments of a shy breeze.

How many colours did you count in this imaginary scene?

Rose is only part of it. Green, blue, yellow, red, grey, black or white colours contribute inextricably to making the mix the more natural one, a more whole one. Seeing the world via only rose-tinted glasses or only grey-tinted glasses manipulates the colour of trees, rivers, doves, sands, skies, lips and fire. It corrupts the natural “glow of emotions” and the spontaneous flow of thoughts. It also “dehumanizes” the inimitable beauty of a natural skin-colour. Try it!

Try to add rose to any “colour” you know of people, you know the skin-colour of people, while wearing your rose-tinted glasses. What image would you really get now of that stunning sociable lady or that handsome funny man? I’d say an alien, an unearthly creature, to which my first spontaneous reaction would/should naturally be: estrangement and as a result of this, fear of strangers and strange.. things.

We are naturally made up to pick and observe all of these colours of life together or separate, for a reason, even when born colour-blind, I believe.

“Interruption”: People who are colour blind are believed to be generally less attentive to their appearance, by nature of the defect in their “life camera-lens”, with which they register the physical glow of things. They have little to great difficulty combining cloths of different or similar colours. As a result, they have difficulty being conventionally well-dressed or fashionable, even if they manage to be presentable. The interesting thing is that this is not a loss or a negative thing at all. You see, being less conditioned to their appearance makes them more attentive to the crucial, basic, non-superficial side of life with less care for what people think of them or view them (appearances). A dear person to me is like that, and it took me knowing this tiny piece of information to appreciate him more.

The later established relationships between colours & emotions are the result of psychology as a science (Colour Psychology). But like most social sciences, psychology is the explanation and writing down of what has always been done by humans. We behaved in a certain way, without knowing why we behaved in certain way and then came psychology to tell us that using theorization, experimentation and analysis. And we have learned to appreciate all of these colours, because we were able to observe them and make them part of what we have perceived as “whole”:, throughout our life, no matter long or short.

Do not choose one colour and cloud the clarity of your sight voluntarily. Negativity is only one colour of life, with black or grey as property psychology colours attributed to it. Well, I like them both, too; black AND grey. I like to put on these grey glasses once in a while, because I want to and I need to. They allow me to appreciate the natural colours of things and people I already have, seek appreciation and embrace contentment, whenever I take them off.

Did you know that transparent glasses are always better for… a clear sight?

Eye-glasses are never rose, grey, black or brown per definition. Actually, glass is naturally transparent, colours were only added afterwards to it when it became possible in terms of making or producing. Also, remember that eye-glasses only have a different colour when the intent of wearing them is non-medical (not intended for improving sight) but aimed at “masking” or covering something else in its natural form (devoid of artificial colour), mostly under the pretence of being fashionable, thereby manipulating a certain clarity that we can’t deal with at some point, like a too shiny sunlight in an otherwise beautiful sunny day (or a too grim private situation amidst a happy family occasion).

Why do people wear black glasses at funerals? What are they hiding? Their tears? Why? Could it be, because it is “fashionable” and more likeable to be happy all the time? What if you truly are not happy? To whom would you pay “allegiance”; to you true emotions or to what people want them to be?

“Transparent” is my all times and all places favourite colour, for it is the colour of clarity, honesty, neutrality and tolerance. It tolerates the existence of all other colours in unequivocal peace and harmony.

Why? Well, without pretence of management genius, because I simply read one of the greatest books of all times which demonstrates the astonishingly close relationship between “business” and “warfare”: The Art of War by Sun Tzu, the famed Chinese military general/philosopher.

It’s no wonder that modern management theory willingly embraces the book as a “must read” and in many cases “a must teach” and “a must follow”.

On a more philosophical note, off course, it remains a disturbing, paradoxical & thoughts-stirring idea to compare a daily activity & an inextricable element of our modern lives such as “business” to war. Cause who is the enemy and who’s the good guy in business? Who is the loser and who is the victor?

Quotes from “The Art of War”:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Isn’t this the same as SWOT Internal vs External Analysis?

“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.” Isn’t this the same foundation marketing and PR were built upon two thousand years later?